N-no... no, I'm scared...!

[relinquishing]

Who: A very young Guy Cecil and a bunch of scary strangers.
Where: Yutopil Apartments and the alleys near the plaza
When: Monday morning - afternoon
Style: I prefer [Action], but I'll match.
Status: Open

[It was such a blur. He remembered it being dark and loud. There was shouting. They were running, his arm being pulled just a little harder as a window shattered in one of the front rooms. A scream echoed from another part of the hall, and he felt the urge to do the same, quickly biting his lip in fear. The shuffle of feet. The slamming of a door. There were soldiers. So many soldiers.

He was frightened.

Mary had said something to him. That he needed to hide. That he needed to live. Why? Why was this happening? This was supposed to be a happy day, right? Why were the soldiers here to hurt them? Why did his sister have to look so sad?

Mary... M-Mary, come back... I-I'm scared...!

He'd ducked away, knees to his chest and lip quivering, still trying to keep his older sister in his sights. And then, as if he'd fallen down a hole in the back of his hiding place... he was somewhere new. Mary was gone. And he didn't like it one bit.]


[Residents of the lower floor of Yutopil might here a thumping crash from Apartment 1-5 early Monday morning, followed by a loud wail. That's because one little blonde boy has literally fallen out of his bed and hit the ground a bit too hard. Nothing to truly hurt him in the end, but... well, he is a bit of a coward, and the impact is enough to startle him to tears. What is this place?! Where is he? And now his head hurts and oh no, oh please, what is he going to do????

He will eventually wander from his strange quarters, although the outside world isn't very inviting. Every face is strange and hostile, and with what he's just seen and heard he can't help but flinch away. So don't be surprised if you come walking through the plaza and hear the sniffling sobs of a young child, not even a day past five, huddled in the alleyway behind a building, head buried against his knees or hands wringing at clothes of the finest quality (dusted with the clouded markings of soot). He may look like an animal caught frightened in a bright light. But for as much of a man as Mary wants him to be, a stranger is still a stranger, and strangers are still frightening.]


((OOC: All replies will be coming from heirofhod.))

Comments

[surly_chosen]

Haven't you heard? The poor little Chosen doesn't have a family.

[He says it as if it doesn't matter, just another fact of life. It does sting, though. His parents are long dead, not that he's sorry about his father, but times with his mother weren't all bad. At least she paid him some kind of attention. And Seles...]

I don't know where my sister is. They took her away because her mom killed mine.

[He's not sure why he's telling this to a kid he doesn't even know. Maybe because they're searching for his sister, maybe because that gives him a small sense of kinship in this weird and utterly unfamiliar place.]

[heirofhod]

...Your momma is... she's gone...?

[Oh. Oh, that was horrid. No one deserved to be without a mother. He certainly can't begin to imagine how sad he would be if his own mother was gone.]

Why'd they hafta take your sister away, though? W-w-why couldn't you be together?

[surly_chosen]

Because they said she might try to kill me so she can be Chosen instead.

[He looks up as they walk, pace slowing.]

I don't think she would. I mean... she's my sister. Would she really come to hate me that much, just because of being the Chosen?

[He's mostly talking to himself now, frustrated that there's little he can do to really find out.]

Maybe it would be better if she was the Chosen instead.

[heirofhod]

B-but... but then she'd just be the one who had to be unhappy...

Can't you just both not be the Chosen?

[That way they could be together, like a brother and sister should be! Like him and Mary.]

[surly_chosen]

No. Don't be stupid! There always has to be a Chosen.

[He spits the words at Gailardia, angry that he has to say it outright, that he's just that trapped in his own life.]

The only way would be if the whole world was destroyed.

[Some days, he'd rather that were the case.]

[heirofhod]

De... destroyed...

[He shrinks back at the outburst, his voice growing quiet and timid.]

You... you mean with soldiers and... fighting... and... [No, no, don't think about that. Thinking about that will only make you cry--

--okay, well, too late. He's sniffling.]

Why... w-why can't you just... chose someone else?

[surly_chosen]

Soldiers?

[The redhead glances back at his follower.]

Like, for a war?

[There'd never been a war so far as Zelos knew. Sure, thousands of years ago maybe, but not now.]

[heirofhod]

[The little boy nods shakily, wiping a wrist against his face with a cough, a faint trail of soot left behind. He doesn't seem to notice.]

Th... t-they're loud and they destroy stuff... the ones that don't protect people. D-do you think they... t-t-t-they would destroy a whole world? They're mean a-a-and scary and... [He bites at his lip with a sob.] They... they hurt lots of people... they made Mary g-get r-r-r-really mad and t-t-tell me t-to h-h-hide... and... a...

[There's another chocking sob before the boy just stops in his tracks, face buried in his sleeves and failing to produce any words that might have been legible. Was this what the world being destroyed would be like? No, he didn't want that! He didn't want that at all!]

[surly_chosen]

[Zelos stops walking then entirely, his normal urge to yell at Gailardia to stop crying completely absent. There were some things that you could cry about, and if Zelos was right, then... well, the death of someone in your family is one of them.

He stands awkwardly for a moment, just watching the small blond sniffle into his sleeves before kneeling and wrapping his arms around the younger boy stiffly.]

It's okay. You're safe now.

[He's not sure that's really the case, but since there's no soldiers or burning building's here, he feels justified making the guess.

And he knows how it feels to lose someone you care about.]

[heirofhod]

[The fear of the cruel boy kneeling in front of him is overrriden by the hug that followed afterwards. Gailardia's posture is tight, but only temporarily - there's a temporary feeling of security here, even if it's with a stranger. Someone's wanting to protect him, even if it's only for a few seconds.

Fingers curl into weak fists against the redhead's shoulders, the boy's head tucking down.]

But... but I-I-I want Mary to be here... I... I dun wanna be alone...!

[surly_chosen]

Well... maybe she was brought here too, you know? I mean, we were. And I said I'd help you look so please stop crying, okay?

[There's a more plaintive tone to his words now, nothing so commanding as before. He understands the smaller boy's plight, feeling alone in the world, separated from the person you know cares about you. And knowing that person may well be dead...

But he can't say that.]

[heirofhod]

[He chokes a bit as he nods, just an affirmation that he'd heard. He's still sniffling uncontrollably, and he doesn't quite feel like he can stop. Stopping tears when they've already begun to flow was always hard! But this boy.... he would really help him, wouldn't he?

The young noble doesn't lift his head, but he does let out a long, shaky sigh, trying his hardest not to wrap his hands around the other boy's neck as his posture slowly relaxes. He's trusting him.]